Police fire on Myanmar protesters, 1 dead, 20 hurt - reports

YANGON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Myanmar police fired on
protesters near a mine at the centre of a long-running land
dispute on Monday, killing one person and wounding 20 others,
media reports said, as the China-linked company announced plans
to expand the project.

A Myanmar television station and website, the Democratic
Voice of Burma (DVB), said that one person was killed during the
protest near the Letpadaung copper mine in central Myanmar.

Khin San Hlaing, a parliamentarian with the opposition
National League for Democracy, cited witnesses as saying a woman
died after being struck in the head by a bullet.

The mining company, Myanmar Winbao, confirmed a person was
killed.

"The events leading up to her death are still unclear,"
company spokesman Cao Desheng said in a statement. "We
understand the police were at the scene, and we hope they will
start investigating this event."

Local police contacted by Reuters said they had no
information about the protests.

Earlier on Monday, Wanbao, which is a unit of the Chinese
weapons manufacturer China North Industries Group Corp, said it
would "be extending its working area in the Letpadaung copper
project to comply with requirements of its investment permit".

"Construction is proceeding as a result of broad community
support for the project," the company said in a statement,
adding that two percent of the mine's profits would be spent on
community development.

The deadly protest comes as Myanmar's semi-civilian
government, which took power in 2011 after 49 years of military
rule, faces criticism for rights abuses including cracking down
on journalists and against protests.

United States President Barack Obama warned during a
November visit that the country was backsliding on reforms.

Local residents have protested against the Letpadaung mine
in Monywa, about 100 km (60 miles) west of Mandalay, saying
thousands of acres of land have been confiscated to enable the
project to proceed.

In November, Amnesty International urged the government to
halt work at the site, saying land had been acquired through a
flawed process and that other social and environmental issues
must be resolved.

The rights group also said authorities have yet been held
accountable for attacks on protesters two years earlier. In
November 2012, more than 100 people including at least 67 monks
were hurt when riot police raided camps set up by protesters.
(Additional reporting by Minzayar Oo in YANGON; Editing by
Jeremy Laurence)